The present invention relates to a bracket for mounting an accessory such as a sun visor for vehicle, on a vehicle panel and more particularly to a bracket for mounting an accessory on a vehicle body, having an excellent mounting performance and capable of eliminating a connector engagement failure.
For example, a sun visor is provided on a top end of a front window in front of a driver""s seat or passenger seat of a vehicle. Some type of the sun visor has a vanity mirror and other type of the sun visor has a lamp for allowing the vanity mirror to be used at night as well.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sun visor 101 having such a lamp has a bracket 102 for fixing the sun visor 101 to a vehicle body at a front end of a fixing shaft 103 and by bolting the bracket 102 to an inner panel 104 in a vehicle compartment, the sun visor 101 is fixed.
A method for fixing the sun visor 101 to the inner panel 104 will be described below. As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, first, wire harness is introduced into a vehicle compartment through a hole portion 106 formed in an inner panel 104 at a top end of a front window 105 and a connector provided at an end of the wire harness is coupled with a connector 110 provided at an end of wire 109 introduced from the bracket 102. Coupling of these connectors 108, 110 is carried out manually by a skilled operator.
Next, the coupled connectors 108, 110 and the wire harness 107 are accommodated in a space portion 112 between the inner panel 104 and an outer panel 111 through a hole 106 formed in the inner panel 104 and consequently, the sun visor 101 is mounted. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the connectors 108, 110 and the wire harness 107 are accommodated in the space portion 112 and grommet screws 113 formed on the bracket 102 are inserted into bracket mounting holes (see FIG. 1) formed in the inner panel 104 and then, the bracket 102 is pressed into the inner panel 104.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a screw 115 is inserted into a center hole of each of the cylindrical grommet screws 113 and tightened so as to fix the bracket 102 onto the inner panel 104. After tightening of the screw is completed, a cover 117 for covering the screw 115 in the bracket 102 is mounted on the bracket 102. Through such a process, the sun visor 101 can be fixed to the inner panel 104.
However, because the cover 117 is not mounted until the connectors 108, 110 are coupled with each other and the bracket 102 is fixed to the inner panel 104, the engagement between the connectors 108 and 110 cannot be seen after the mounting is completed. That is, whether or not the connectors 108, 110 are engaged with each other properly cannot be identified. If the engagement is improper, it is necessary to remove the cover 117 and bracket 102 and then recouple the connectors 108, 110.
Further, because the cover is not mounted until the bracket 102 is fixed to the inner panel 104, the cover 117 may be not always mounted properly and additionally, these components need to be controlled carefully for any part not to be missing.
The present invention has been achieved to solve the above described problem. It therefore is an object of the invention to provide a holding means capable of fixing an article by a single action while simplifying mounting procedure and eliminating connector coupling failure.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a mounting bracket for fixing an accessory to a panel provided with an auxiliary panel comprises a first bracket, a second bracket having a second connector to be joined to the first bracket and a fixing means for fixing the brackets to the panel, and a cover which is mounted on the second bracket from an opposite side thereof to the side opposing the first bracket, so as to join the first bracket and the second bracket together. Further, a cover has a lock member having temporary fixing pawls for fixing the cover temporarily to the second bracket. The second bracket has a lock member insertion hole, which allows a front end side portion of the lock member to pass through to face a bracket opposing face on an opposite side to the cover mounting face. Temporary fixing pawls are fixed to an opening peripheral portion of the lock member insertion hole in the bracket opposing face, so that the cover is fixed temporarily to the second bracket.
Because the temporary fixing pawls of the lock member provided on the cover are fixed to the opening peripheral portion of the lock member insertion hole, such that the front end side portion of the lock member faces the side of the bracket opposing face through the lock member insertion hole formed in the second bracket, the cover can be fixed temporarily to the second bracket. Consequently, the second bracket and cover can be converted to a module so that these components can be handled as a single part, thereby handling performance of necessary parts being largely improved. Further, the temporary fixing pawls prevent the lock member from being removed from the lock member insertion hole.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the lock member is provided with step portions which are in contact with a cover mounting face of the second bracket when the cover is fixed temporarily so as to prevent an invasion of the lock member into the lock member insertion hole. Therefore, the lock member is locked in insertion direction and release direction relative to a lock member insertion hole, so that temporary fixing condition of the cover relative to the second bracket is maintained.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the first bracket is provided with temporary fixing release protrusions, which press temporary fixing release portions formed on the lock member through the lock member insertion hole so as to crush the lock member within an elastic range thereof, so that an engagement between step portions and a cover mounting face is released. Consequently, the second bracket can be joined to the first bracket.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the second bracket, on which the cover is fixed temporarily, is joined to the first bracket fixed to the auxiliary panel preliminarily. As a result, the first connector can be coupled with the second connector easily, thereby preventing a failure of engagement between the connectors effectively.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, when the brackets are joined together, the front end side portion of the lock member protruded to the side of the bracket opposing face is elastically restored and returned to its initial state, so that it is fixed to an opening peripheral portion of an escaping hole formed in the first bracket, through which the lock member is to be passed. Therefore, the lock member is prevented from slipping out of the lock member insertion hole.